Amplified Spontaneous Emission from Zwitterionic Excited-State Intramolecular Proton Transfer.

The unique four-level photocycle characteristics of excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) materials enable population inversion and large spectral separation between absorption and emission through their respective enol and keto forms. This leads to minimal or no self-absorption losses, a favorable feature in acting as an optical gain medium. While conventional ESIPT materials with an enol-keto tautomerism process are widely known, zwitterionic ESIPT materials, particularly those with high photoluminescence, are scarce.

Regulating Back Electron Transfer through Donor and π-Spacer Alterations in Benzothieno[3,2-b]indole-based Dye-sensitized Solar Cells.

Three metal-free organic D-π-A dyes with benzothieno[3,2-b]indole as electron donor, cyanoacrylic acid as both electron acceptor and anchoring group with benzene (BID-1), thiophene (BID-2) and furan (BID-3) as π-spacers were designed and synthesized for application in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). A planar and electron-rich heterocycle such as benzothieno[3,2-b]indole offers better backbone rigidity and improves charge transport properties in comparison to indolo[3,2-b]indole donor, previously reported from our group. Additionally, we synthesized a benzothieno[3,2-b]indole donor grafted with longer alkyl chains which efficiently prevented the approach of oxidized species in the electrolyte coming closer to semiconductor thereby arresting recombination.

Substituent Effect Transmission Power of Alkyl, Alkenyl, Alkynyl, Phenyl, Thiophenyl, and Polyacene Spacers.

The transmission of substituent effect through a variety of spacers, that is to say, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, phenyl, thiophenyl, and polyacene has been studied by modeling Y-G-X type molecular systems (Y: reaction center; G: spacer moiety; X: substituent) using B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) density functional theory calculations. The reaction center is always kept as a C=C double bond and the molecular electrostatic potential (MESP) minimum (V ) observed for this bond showed subtle variation with respect to the changes in the spacer unit and the nature of substituent. Strong linear correlations are observed between Hammett substituent constants (σ and σ ) and V , which recommend the aptness of V as an electronic descriptor to quantify the substituent effect.